NEWPORT — The Middlebury Union High School girls’ basketball team upset host North Country on Thursday, 56-53, to finish the regular season at 11-9, and clinch the program’s first winning record since 2010 and second since 2006.
The Tigers also snapped the 13-7 Falcons’ 13-game winning streak and dealt North Country its only Lake Division loss of the year. NCU still claimed the Lake Division crown in its first season in the league, while the Tigers finished with a 6-4 Lake mark.
The Tigers’ success this winter follows a combined four wins in the prior two seasons, and comes with only two seniors on the roster, forwards Hannah Buttolph and Jesse Trudeau.
The Tigers’ overall record appears to have earned them the No. 9 seed for the Division I playoffs, which begin this week. The Vermont Principals’ Association was set to announce pairings on Monday morning, and the Tigers will almost certainly travel to Mount Anthony (10-10) for a first-round matchup on either Tuesday or Wednesday. A weekend quarterfinal against No. 1 Champlain Valley would be next.
On this past Thursday, leading scorer Keagan Dunbar poured in 34 points, 15 from the free-throw line, to pace the Tigers at North Country. Payton Buxton chipped in nine points as MUHS overcame a 17-point, 19-rebound night from the Falcons’ Kylie Wright.